Apparatus and method of defects inspection
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsMichael S. Bittar, Jing Li
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments include apparatus and methods to inspect casing defects in a pipe such as a casing associated with a drilling operation. Electrical connectors contacting the inside wall of the pipe can be used to generate a current in the pipe. Magnetic fields correlated to an anomaly or anomalies that alter the current can be sensed to identify the presence of the anomaly or anomalies. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
Claims24
An apparatus comprising:
- two electric connectors operable to couple to an alternating current source and operable to connect to an inside wall of a pipe to flow a current into the pipe from the alternating current source between the two electric connectors;
- and
- a magnetic sensor operable to receive a magnetic signal in response to generating the current, while the magnetic sensor scans over the inside wall of the pipe.
A method comprising:
- generating an alternating current in a wall of a pipe between two connectors contacting an inside of the wall, the two connectors coupled to a current source;
- moving the two connectors along the inside of the wall;
- determining if an anomaly exists in the pipe as the two connectors move along the inside wall by detecting a magnetic field in a magnetic sensor when scanning over the anomaly, the magnetic field indicative of the anomaly.
A machine-readable storage device having instructions stored thereon, which, when performed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations, the instructions comprising instructions to:
- collect data from magnetic sensors disposed in a tool in response to generating an alternating current in a wall of a pipe between two connectors of the tool contacting an inside of the wall, as the two connectors move along the inside of the wall;
- and
- determine, from the collected data, if an anomaly exists in the pipe as the two connectors move along the inside wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.